The present invention relates to an apparatus for preventing deterioration of a rechargeable battery and regenerating the battery, that is, the apparatus for regenerating the battery by dielectrically heating and pulverizing an electrode non-conductor inactivating substance generated on the basis of discharge at a frequency of dielectric loss of the inactivating substance to effect electrochemical decomposition by charging current. The present invention also relates to an apparatus in which a dielectric heating current value obtained at the same time gives a storage quantity, that is, a quantity of dielectric dipole which is a quantity of the electrode non-conductor inactivating substance proportional to a discharged quantity is proportional to conductance at a peak frequency of dielectric loss, thereby knowing the discharge quantity, and the discharge quantity at the present time is deducted from a rated storage quantity to know a storage quantity which is a state of charge (SOC).
In a rechargeable battery, an electrode surface of the battery is covered with a thin film of an inactivating substance which is a poor conductor due to an increase in the number of times the battery is discharged. The thin film crystallizes with the elapse of time and crystallization results in electrical insulation of a charging channel which undergoes electrochemical decomposition by charging current. Recharge will not enable the regeneration of positive electrodes and negative electrodes, thus resulting in deterioration of storage capacity of the battery. Nowadays, with what is called smart grids which stabilize and store unstable electric power generated by natural energies such as sunlight and wing power, it is indispensable to prolong the service life of a rechargeable battery which is lower in price. In addition, it is necessary to provide technologies for preventing deterioration of storage capacity due to cycles of charge and discharge and regenerating the battery. Measurement of a storage quantity which is information on SOC is necessary for utilization of stored electricity.
Nowadays, as technologies for preventing deterioration of storage capacity of a rechargeable storage battery and regenerating the battery, there is known an apparatus which was granted and disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4565362 to the applicant of the present invention in which, with restrictions placed only on prevention of deterioration of a lead acid battery and regeneration of the battery, a high-frequency electric current is allowed to flow, thereby giving heating of dielectric loss to a layer of lead sulfate grown on an electrode surface to remove the insulation layer of lead sulfate. However, there have been so far filed no patents which cover technologies for preventing deterioration of rechargeable storage batteries in general and regenerating the batteries by automatically searching individual peak frequencies of dielectric relaxation loss or apparatuses for measuring remaining storage quantity.
The above document only deals with a lead acid battery, aiming at destruction of fine crystals of lead sulfate by using an apparatus for preventing deterioration of storage capacity of the battery and regenerating the battery or the apparatus for regenerating the battery by dielectrically heating and pulverizing electrode non-conductor inactivating lead sulfate crystals generated on the basis of discharge at a frequency of dielectric loss of the inactivating substance to effect electrochemical decomposition by charging current.
However, no measurement has been made for remaining storage quantity. There has been so far filed only a patent which is limited to a lead acid battery and deals with regeneration of the battery by dielectric heating decomposition and prevention of the deterioration thereof.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described situation, an object of which is to provide an apparatus for measuring remaining storage quantity together with prevention of deterioration and regeneration of a rechargeable storage battery which can be applied to any type of the rechargeable storage battery. The present invention covers technologies for preventing deterioration of rechargeable storage batteries in general and regenerating the batteries by automatically searching individual peak frequencies of dielectric relaxation loss and an apparatus for measuring remaining storage quantity.